Banshee (dinghy)
Encyclopedia
The Banshee is a 120-pound, 13 feet (4 m) cat-rigged one-design
sailing dinghy with 82 square feet (7.6 m²) of sail. The boat was designed by Richard Reid in 1969. Its Portsmouth yardstick
is 93.7 (2008).
Richard Reid had been building Flying Juniors which had been winning races. The Sunfish was out, and Richard thought that there was room for a more substantial mass-market sailing dinghy.
He was a retailer in Foster City, CA. He used the hull shape of the Flying Junior
as his model, making a few minor modifications. The first fleets were in Foster City and at the San Jose Sailing Club. These boats were built by Richard Reid himself (his company was known as Marine Plastics.) He began to subcontract construction to Merrysville and Santa Cruz.
Barry Bruch raised venture capital to establish Banshee International, which took over production of the boats (with Richard Reid as VP). They built boats in Santa Cruz (from 1974) and Scotts Valley (from 1982).
An experimental variant, the Griffon, was built by Banshee International. It used very lightweight materials (e.g. carbon fiber), had the same deck, and basically the same hull (with some minor modifications - for example a slightly fuller bow). It weighed 80 lbs! Fifteen were made.
Abbott Boats of Ontario, Canada was licensed to make 500 boats. It isn't known how many they made, or what became of the molds.
One-design
One-Design is a racing method where all vehicles or boats have identical or very similar designs or models. It is also known as Spec series. It is heavily used in sailboat racing. All competitors in a race are then judged based on a single start time...
sailing dinghy with 82 square feet (7.6 m²) of sail. The boat was designed by Richard Reid in 1969. Its Portsmouth yardstick
Portsmouth yardstick
The Portsmouth Yardstick or Portsmouth handicap scheme is a system of handicapping used primarily in small-boat yacht racing.The handicap is applied to the time taken to sail any course, and the corrected time can be used to compare widely different sailboats on even terms. Portsmouth Numbers are...
is 93.7 (2008).
Richard Reid had been building Flying Juniors which had been winning races. The Sunfish was out, and Richard thought that there was room for a more substantial mass-market sailing dinghy.
He was a retailer in Foster City, CA. He used the hull shape of the Flying Junior
Flying Junior
thumb|Coen Gulcher helming one of the first Flying Juniors The International Flying Junior or FJ is a sailing dinghy which was originally designed in 1955 in the Netherlands by renowned boat designer Van Essen and Olympic sailor Conrad Gülcher. The FJ was built to serve as a training boat for the...
as his model, making a few minor modifications. The first fleets were in Foster City and at the San Jose Sailing Club. These boats were built by Richard Reid himself (his company was known as Marine Plastics.) He began to subcontract construction to Merrysville and Santa Cruz.
Barry Bruch raised venture capital to establish Banshee International, which took over production of the boats (with Richard Reid as VP). They built boats in Santa Cruz (from 1974) and Scotts Valley (from 1982).
An experimental variant, the Griffon, was built by Banshee International. It used very lightweight materials (e.g. carbon fiber), had the same deck, and basically the same hull (with some minor modifications - for example a slightly fuller bow). It weighed 80 lbs! Fifteen were made.
Abbott Boats of Ontario, Canada was licensed to make 500 boats. It isn't known how many they made, or what became of the molds.